Gujarat: Man uses ‘Sinh’ in name, forced to shave moustache

PALANPUR: In another glaring display of deep-rooted caste bias, a 23-year-old man was beaten up and forced to shave off his moustache by upper caste people in a village near Palanpur. The victim, Ranjit Thakor, invited the wrath of the upper caste members after he suffixed ‘Sinh’ with his name in the invitation cards of a religious ceremony scheduled on June 4. On Wednesday, police arrested one of the two persons named in the complaint lodged by Thakor.

Thakor was subjected to the ordeal on May 27 when he went to distribute the cards of his babri (hair removing ceremony) in Gaud village near Palanpur. Around 15 Rajput men noticed that he had used ‘Sinh’ with his name and picked up a fight with him.

The altercation turned serious as they started beating Thakor and took him to a forest area between Dhanda and Bauchargadh (Manka) villages. Here, they forced him to shave off his moustache, police said.

A Y Patel, police sub-inspector, Palanpur Taluka police station, told TOI that Thakor has named Mathursinh Dabhi and Harpalsinh Dabhi besides 13 unidentified persons in his complaint. “We arrested Mathursinh and others also will be rounded up soon,” said Patel.

The accused have been booked under various sections of IPC including section 153A for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race etc and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.

The victim’s father Bhikha Thakor said that his son’s name in the school leaving certificate is also written as Ranjitsinh.